November 5th, 2013: V for Vendetta (2006)

What It’s About: In the near future Britain has become a totalitarian state. V (Hugo Weaving) is a mysterious rebel who saves Evey (Natalie Portman) from the clutches of “Fingermen”, secret police, who catch her out after curfew and intend to rape her. V shows Evey his work, the destruction by bombing of The Bailey on November 5th, the day that Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament. V takes over the TV station where Evey works and announces his intention to blow up Parliament in one year’s time. The rest of the film is the account of that year, during which V’s history is revealed, partially by his conversations with Evey, who he makes his protegé, and via the investigations of Finch (Stephen Rea), a cop on V’s trail.

Why Watch it Today?: Today is Guy Fawkes Day, which comes up not once, but twice, in the course of V For Vendetta. Guy Fawkes Day actually commemorates the failure of the Gun Powder Plot to blow up Parliament, but don’t let that stop you from watching the Wachowskis’ adaptation of Allan Moore’s famed comic series (it’s up to you if Alan Moore’s disowning of the adaptation affects your desire to watch it).